Capricornia: A Novel
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: N/A
Pages: Good
Set in the wild, untamed Northern Territory of Australia during the early twentieth century, Capricornia is a sprawling, savage masterpiece that chronicles the lives of white settlers, Aboriginal Australians, and those of mixed heritage caught in the brutal machinery of colonial society. Xavier Herbert's monumental novel follows the Shillingsworth family across decades, tracing the tragedy of Norman, a young man of mixed Aboriginal and white descent who must navigate a world that refuses to grant him an uncomplicated identity, in a land where the law is as harsh and indifferent as the scorching red earth itself. Herbert writes with unflinching moral fury and a darkly comedic wit, wielding his prose like an indictment against the systemic racism, hypocrisy, and casual cruelty of Australian colonial rule. First published in 1938, Capricornia stands as one of the great landmarks of Australian literature — a work that dares to hold a mirror up to a nation's conscience with breathtaking ambition and scale. Rich in vernacular energy and laced with both tenderness and rage, it remains a work of urgent, enduring power that asks whether redemption is possible in a land built upon injustice.
Author: Xavier Herbert
Format: Hardback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: N/A
Pages: Good
Set in the wild, untamed Northern Territory of Australia during the early twentieth century, Capricornia is a sprawling, savage masterpiece that chronicles the lives of white settlers, Aboriginal Australians, and those of mixed heritage caught in the brutal machinery of colonial society. Xavier Herbert's monumental novel follows the Shillingsworth family across decades, tracing the tragedy of Norman, a young man of mixed Aboriginal and white descent who must navigate a world that refuses to grant him an uncomplicated identity, in a land where the law is as harsh and indifferent as the scorching red earth itself. Herbert writes with unflinching moral fury and a darkly comedic wit, wielding his prose like an indictment against the systemic racism, hypocrisy, and casual cruelty of Australian colonial rule. First published in 1938, Capricornia stands as one of the great landmarks of Australian literature — a work that dares to hold a mirror up to a nation's conscience with breathtaking ambition and scale. Rich in vernacular energy and laced with both tenderness and rage, it remains a work of urgent, enduring power that asks whether redemption is possible in a land built upon injustice.